Amos

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Amos was a shepherd and a minor prophet with a major message. His warnings were timeless if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.


Amos

Amos prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II, King of Israel, and of Uzziah of Judah, which places him in the first half of the 8th century BC.

Amos appears to be from Tekoa, a town in Judah south of Jerusalem, but his prophetic mission was in the northern kingdom. He is called a "shepherd" and a "dresser of sycamore trees".

The writing suggests he was a man of education rather than a poor farmer.

He also appears to have utilized an ancient hymn within his prophecy.[1] He appears that he is repeating the prophecy from the Book of Joel which makes sense because it was such a common theme of creation and man's relationship with God and the world man creates for himself.

We live in a cause and effect universe and the rules are built into creation along with the consequences for pursuing a path contrary to The Way. The prophets are men who see the patterns in these rules and how they apply to their times. Each generation is often repeating the same errors by creating the same essential elements generation after generation.


The Prologue

Amos proceeds with a series of denunciations of the surrounding nations beginning because of their resistance, cruelty, and seared conscience. He mentions Syria, Philistia and the Phoenician cities of commerce in the world. Amos wrote that he was "among the herdmen of Tekoa" but the word Tekoa[2] has a variety of meanings and appears as MemTavKufVavAyin מִתְּק֑וֹעַ only in that verse. Is Amos simply writing about places or is revealing principles? Is he an historian or a prophet, or merely a shepherd of sheep with a personal opinion?

He also reviews at least three tribes, or nations, more closely and their conflict with the people who did seek to follow the way of God. Is he denouncing Israel or those who should be Israel?

The book of Amos puts his people on the same level as their surrounding nations. The God of creation requires the same purity, morals and ethics from which there is no escape.

All nations or people that rise up against the kingdom of God and the precepts upon which it functions, even those calling themselves Israel or Judah will not be exempt from the consequences or the judgment of God built into creation.

Understanding what idolatry is and learning to distinguish between unjust ways and The Way of righteousness is key to a successful out come for any and all societies.

Any nation or people that represents YHWH, His Name/personality will be made protected from anything or anyone that profanes, functions contrary to the name or identity or Character of God. God's name must be exalted for the people to be exalted to something that might be called eternal life.

An example of a way that would produce the opposite results is what Polybius speaks of concerning the people degenerating into perfect savages when they become accustomed to living at the expense of others and depending for their livelihood on the property of others.

To understand the message of Amos it is important to understand the context of the prophet in the apostasy of Israel and false Christianity. What were the purposes of institutions of the Levites and priests and why was there such a problem with the King burning incense in the temple?

"The Day of the Lord" is simply that point at which the consequences of doing contrary to the formula for eternal life catches up with a people or nation. Those who understand the true meaning of these prophecies can see the process as it unfolds and may provide for it. But the most important thing is to turn away from the systems of idolatry, the covetous practices, and the greed and avarice that accompanies them.


Summary

Amos 1

Introduces Amos as a shepherd warning the people of repeated transgression are bringing about an effect. The places mentioned are poetic representations of spiritual vices and virtues(See comments verse 5). The people were returning to the captivity of Edom because they remembered not the brotherly covenant which reduced the fruitfulness of society.[3]


Amos 2

Listing more repeated transgressions and their consequences. Many elements of a healthy society must be diligently practiced or the masses will degenerate. If prophets fail to warn the people the social bonds of a free society will be so weakened until fear drives the foolish into the snare of tyranny.


Amos 3

The people return to Egypt and the Levites who should belong to God but have their horns of the altar cut off, and fall to the ground. And the great houses shall have an end.


Amos 4

The whole body of watchmen for Israel fail to warn the people. God sends warnings to the people like those of Egypt and Sodom but they fail to return to his system of freewill offerings where there would be fruitfulness.

Amos 5

Captivity will come again because of your sloth in sacrifices and because you gave more power to your kings to take and take tribute. You will cry out but God will not hear you as warned in 1 Samuel 8. Legal charity always makes the word of God to none effect.

Amos 6

The people became slothful in righteousness and self indulgent showing no mercy or heart for their brother. Where the weightier matters are neglected and the river of faith dries up and no longer flows.


Amos 7

There is a warning of a famine by swarms of grasshoppers[4] after the king's mowing.Plagues from the mowing or shearing by the king and his husbandmen of society[4] which come from the crown of the king like locust consuming the substance of the people. Their dependence on these altars has weakened the people until the people went into captivity and they king became vulnerable to tyranny.

Amos 8

"Israel is ripe for his final doom" because it has gone the way of sloth, coveting, and injustice instead of The Way of the righteousness of God.

Amos 9

Amos makes it clear that there is no escape from the consequences of the works of iniquity of the people and their appetite for the wages of unrighteousness.




Amos
Amos 1 | Amos 2 | Amos 3
Amos 4 | Amos 5 | Amos 6
Amos 7 | Amos 8 | Amos 9

Preceded by: Joel
Followed by: Obadiah

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Footnotes

  1. Chapter Amos 4.13; Amos 5.8–9; Amos 8.8; Amos 9.5–6.
  2. 08620 תְּקוֹעַ‎ Tëqowa‘ [tek-o’-ah] TavKufVavAyin a form of 08619 a blast-(wind)-instrument, trumpet TavKufVavAyin; from 08628 to blow TavKufAyin; n pr m; [BDB-1075b] [{See TWOT on 2541 @@ "2541b" }] V-Tekoa 6, Tekoah 1; 7
    Tekoa or Tekoah= "a stockade"
    • n pr m
    1) a Judaite, son of Ashur and grandson of Hezron
    • n pr loc
    2) a town in the hill country of Judah near Hebron built by king Rehoboam of Judah; birthplace of Amos
    3) a wilderness area where king Jehoshaphat of Judah defeated the people of Moab, Ammon, and Mount Seir
    • In Amos only we see Tekoa as MemTavKufVavAyin מִתְּק֑וֹעַ
    • מ ם Mem Fountain of water, a flow, a fountain of the Divine Wisdom [massive, overpower chaos] (Numeric value: 40)
    • ת Tav is a Seal of a Higher kingdom or realm through faith. The paradigm keter–malchut “The Crown of Sovereignty” from the Tree of Life spiritually linking worlds through an unseen doorway of faith. The Aleph & Tav are the first and last letters. [door sign cross seal] (Numeric value: 400)
    • ק Kuf or Kof Omnipresence - Redemption of Fallen Sparks The paradoxical union Reish and a Zayin holiness or separateness omnipresence of God [Cord and needle 𐤒 ... back of head neck... the last or least] (Numeric value: 100)
    • ו Vav Connection, Connecting realms and worlds or the dividing veil between them. [nail... And, Add, secure, hook] (Numeric value: 6)
    • ע Ayin also U. Divine Providence "eye" or "fountain" of five states of kindness or severity. AlefYodNun or nothingness as opposed to AlefShin something [eye, watch] (Numeric value: 70)
  3. Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." This was an indictment of Israel because it failed to abide by Leviticus 25:35 "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: [yea, though he be] a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee."
  4. 4.0 4.1 01462 גּוֹב‎ GimelVavBeit gowb [gobe] from 01461 GimelVavBeit guwb meaning husbandman; n m coll; [BDB-146b] [{See TWOT on 304 @@ "304b" }] AV-grasshopper 2; 2
    1) locusts
    • How is a word that means a husbandman become a locust or grasshopper.
    • Amos 7:1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers <01462> in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, [it was] the latter growth after the king’s mowings.
    • It appears in this form כְּג֣וֹב גֹּבָ֑י in Nahum 3:17 Thy crowned [are] as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers <01462>, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, [but] when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they [are].
    • Other words for grasshopper are 02284 ChetGimelBeit and 0697 AlefReshBeitHey from rabah ReshBeitHey 07235 which means "to become numerous".